An extreme or irrational fear of or aversion to something

An extreme or irrational fear of or aversion to something
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I think now I can chip in my 5¢ worth on the --- state of the art (it is expression innit?)

I wouldn't call it a phobia, I wouldn't call it xenophobia.  I would call them criminals, those that act to violate rights in the pretext of xenophobia.  Some other people, in far away lands, call it 'immigration' control, nationalism, 'protecting our national interests' --- the outcomes are different but human rights are violated.

I am of the school of thought, that we are first Human, then everything else comes after --- including prejudice and stereotyping (such a beautiful looking word).

I will not join the bandwagon of saying: lets do something. Do what exactly?  An inherent steoreotype has existed in this country (South Africa) about the perception of African foreign 'nationals', way before Boom Shaka dropped their first album.

But, we have lived in harmony with the stereotype --- without, violence I mean, well minimal but not the 'publicised' version of the past three weeks.

This is not my blog, so amma cut it short.  A few thoughts: charity starts at home --- if this State can't provide the very same thing we want to provide our 'guests' what can be done?

In closing, I think as South African's we live in a dream world (Morphius), or rather, we pretend ish is okay when it's not --- when the that ish shows up we freak out --- xenophobia, racism, sexism, agesim, enthnic something-something.

I have no knowledge of how international relations work, no sociology, nor pyschology, but I dabbled a bit in philosophy, and thus I can chip in a 5 cent coin, with pseudo-intelligence.

1ove, huh?

15h09 Monday
19, May
2008
  • love 08
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sun, sunset, aerial, tsutsumane, village, alexandra, township, johannesburg, south africa, africa
  • Canon EOS 400D DIGITAL
    2008
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  1. MOVE/Along PREV
  2. Xeno P. Hobia's & Sons NEXT
22 Comments
 
    nina sum1

    dope pic! dope! pic!

  2. Khumbelo

    wat a shot...iLove

    !™

    blak unicorn

    that picture is bumpin! :)

  4. noidSyStems

    Its very true B1 ... I do agree ... I remember my 1st encounters when I came back from Botswana I was in multi-rational school ... My friend was from Zaire ... Automatically because I'm dark and my Zulu is bad (eish my Zulu-still working on it) I was alienated even by people of lighter skin (whites and coloreds).

    I dnt have an answer to it ... But I tend to think or situations like this heal themselves not that we will entirely take the back seat but a solution will come within the problem.

    Why?!? coz my own experience is that people get used to he idea and know that you aighnt going anywhere and instate they will try to know more about you but a revelation/experience has to happen 1st.

    Thats why a while back I said that if South Africa had a civil war (Not that I'm in support of a war) as a nation we could have found true clarity/value of who we are and what we really want...

    The healing process was too quick and a lot was put under carpet and people never really new the truth of the true struggles both domestic and international!

  5. Juxtapose

    sometimes, even when you cultivate certain illusions (for comfort, for survival etc), you are still terribly shocked when those very illusions you've carefully bred, turn out to be, well, illusions. err... the point is, whatever the context, or the definitions, or even the motives - hate or a disregard for humanness - underscores the behaviour of men who can set another man alight.
    while we struggle with this whole thing, i.e. finding the right categories or ideological definitions, do we not run the danger of intellectualising hate? perhaps, it is what it is, maybe we are coming to terms with the realisation that WE are just as Capable of vacuous hate as anybody else, we're ordinary, and even our hero-riddled history wont save us from being less than our best.
    aside: i like your pic, it has a Joshua Tree intensity

  6. Khumbelo

    cant stop lewking at this...too fresh.

    i'd hit this...(that's how fresh it is)

    heh heh...

    *hides

  7. mokete*

    I think we called 2008 (two thousand and great), what’s great about this year? Killing of all dark looking people whether Nguni or Venda and Stonga speaking individuals. The color of your skin might get up under the ground these days. Yesterday we drove pass the Jeppe Police Station there we saw many people sinking refuge from the Police. As we drove towards Carlton Centre the hype started to be more heavier, I saw Hobo like looking community (sorry for that) busy beating the hell out of innocent dark looking people like me. What’s funny is that everyone from outside South Africa we called them abosbale. Yet we had a plan underneath the carpet. Which was …?

    It’s saddening to lose a soul wherelse they are avoidable ways, which are by treating everyone like a sister or brother. These people that kill these people are criminal (very organized) they are wearing the xenophobia mask. Which makes them to loot? In other ways whatever people’s got is/was for them these thief. It’s about time for us or them to remove the stigma of black to ill –treat other blacks because they are dark than them. I believe those are illiterates with no reason for their behavior. If we could classify ourselves earthly than by our races south Africa will perhaps be great8.

  8. rudzani

    Gee, you guys are writing essays! Good pic lebogang!!

  9. Bareng Rakuba

    I was watching Botswana news yesterday when Seretse Kgama announced/welcomed all brothers and sisters who came to seek help in his country. He promised to take care/give them shelter and food utill things gets better in their country for them to go back. It is very sad to hear about countless number of deaths announced every night of SA news.

    @ Lebogang........... this is a peaceful picture, I like it.

  10. æ

    lovely pic. I guess the one beauty about this is that we can agree to disagree or vice versa.

    Whilst most of us may agree that charity begins at home, a lot of us grew up with unannounced visitors, extended family, neighbours and strangers (in and out of our homes) who impacted on our lives and our domestic socio-economics; yet we took care of them hospitably without compromising our welfare.

    Back to blindness: I often wish that we were all born blind because we might thereby see more to people than what little we tend to see now.

  11. yizzi25

    doper'licious!!
    yo, @lebohang--- is that the antenna for the pirate radio station?
    where can i get 1 like that ?, me myself is trynna set up 1 for my community!
    *kidding ofcourse,

    No xenophobia what , what, --- nope !
    i just say "No to Xenophobia" -- i ain't trynna be philosophical or anything,,,
    but what's going on up there, ain't cool at all!

    *filled with disappointment ,,, but then .... aha! rejuvenated by a dope pic by Lebohang .

  12. lebogang nkoane

    "agree to disagree" --- never liked that phrase, albeit, sound.

    I hear you on blindness --- but human nature tends to push us towards dichotomies (wow, big word alert, hope I used it right)

    on unannounced guests --- I was one of those guests. I wouldn't call my stay pleasurable or would I say I was welcomed --- I did however have less liberties than the liberties we (some SAffican's) just took away from our announced guests.

    But, a violation of human rights is never justifiable, that's my stand point --- it is not excusable, it is a violation period (aside; I could never add the punctuation mark '.' after writing the word for it) and should stop.

    How that happens, I leave that those more qualified than I am --- I am tapped out on imagining a better world --- I only have one view, I don't know if it will get there, the question in my mind has now shifted from will it get there? --- to, will I survive the last 30 (if the UN is right) years in THIS world?

    *meditate, on that I will.

  13. lebogang nkoane

    Lebo-might be-Hang --- but I'm not him.

    *pedantic, I am.

  14. seilatsatsi

    for me not to repeat what has been said coz i share some sentiments here. this xenophobic situation reminds me of a piece from "the rose that grew from concrete" by tupac tittled 'the unanswerable':

    Question: when will there be peace on earth?
    Answer: when the earth falls to pieces!!

  15. Sukum'ukhanye

    Whats peace? Peace sounds perfect... since we so not perfect ther will never be peace

  16. Stefanie Jason

    Question: when will there be peace on earth?

    the day that wealth is free,
    cause money is the root of this evil!

  17. lebogang nkoane

    I beg to differ --- money is not the root of evil --- the hearts of men is the root of all evil and good.

    but, guns kill people not people.

    *contradictory, I am/was.

  18. æ

    people don't kill people??! yet to hear of guns that up and kill people

  19. lebogang nkoane

    don't ponder on it too much --- at the end it will be one of those, "we agree to disagree".

    It is a statement I will stand by regardless of the valid counter arguments that would be posed, like you did.

    It's rather a sentiment than a truth.

  20. NguJaz

    with all due respect, Seretse Ian Khama will not live cheek by jowl with his "guests", nor will he physically "take care of them against all ills".
    with due course, some kind of resentment might occur because as you say ante e: even though some of us did live with unexpective visits from relatives; when you seem to be perpetually "giving up" your bed, your food and your comfort to guests -- eventually resentment will set in.
    Is that an excuse? No.
    But it's certainly a reason.

  21. twiggle stix

    Snap'd!

  22. Native Soul
    slices of time ---
    love the pic ---

    keep shooting
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